Project: Box House I
Architects: Massive Order
Location: Rawoda, Kuwait
Area: 6,458 sf
Photographs by: Nelson Garrido
Box House I by Massive Order
Massive Order has designed a beautiful contemporary dwelling for three families in Rawoda, Kuwait. The Box House I has almost 6,500 square feet of living spaces behind a smooth stone facade. It is carved up into three separate homes that all come together around small terraces.
Box House I houses three families in three different volumes within one box. The idea is to give each family a unique and private spatial experience, hence the program was divided volumetrically and each volume overlooks a private court yard. The ‘L’ shaped volume accessed in the ground floor is the largest volume and it includes a vestibule, in lot parking, and a large yard. The ‘T’ shaped volume accessed from the first floor is the smallest one; the inverted ‘T’ shape affords the courtyard a view of the sky and double height living space. The ‘U’ shaped volume is on the second floor, containing a discontinuous yard that creates two courtyards one with a water feature and the other with greens.
The exterior of Box House I has mainly stone cladding emphasizing the main mass (box). The stone cladding is to be read as a crust that wraps all three families. In order to achieve the perception of a crust, the thickness of the stone is revealed around all openings on the facade. The inside of all openings are finished in stucco to emphasize both perceptions of the crust and the volumes.
